Monster
by tiashew14
Summary: A picture book that brings memories of a bitter past… A short story.


**Title:** Monster

 **Author:** _tiashew14_

 **Genre:** little bit of angst and little bit of fluff

 **Raiting:** K+.

 **Fandom:** Naruto

 **DC:** the original story belongs to the author. I'm only responsible for my own imagination.

 **Annotation:** A picture book that brings memories of a bitter past…

 **Author's note:** This time I'm focusing on the scene rather than a story. Will probably post few more of those. But this story... makes me tear up every time I read it...

"Uncle Gaara, why some people used to call you a monster?" A three-year old boy was a pure embodiment of curiosity. Well, it was that age already, when they start to wonder why the sky is blue and the trees are green. But not for this little one. The questions he asked were different.

"Because I used to have one inside of me. Just like Naruto."

"Uncle Naruto doesn't look like a monster."

"Not everyone does."

"This is wrong." Little boy was looking in the picture book. This particular page had a drawing of a huge dark creature threatening a village. This is probably where this 'monster' talk is coming from.

"What is?"

"If you are the monster, then what are the people who called you that?"

The boy raised his eyes at his uncle. Children are not supposed to look this serious; they're not supposed to think this way. But this boy was special, after all. Just like his parents.

"To me, they're bigger monsters, that you could ever be."

Maybe, he wasn't wrong. Maybe this world was filled with monsters from the very beginning. Wild beasts hiding their faces behind the masks, who would call everyone else 'a monster' just to conceal their true nature. A single word that has the power to destroy your life and throw you into a pitch black depth of despair.

When the people you've loved will turn their blades against you, your world will end.

How does it feel when your world ends?

The world that was already crumbling from the day you were born. The world you've only started to understand. The world that defined your whole existence. The world that kept together broken pieces of the whole picture. The world that gave you a strength to go on through the darkness.

What will happen if everything you hold dear will just disappear?

One day you'll realize that love is a fake, that friendship is just a word, that family is a source of your pain, that light is an illusion and compassion is a mistake, then you'll know that your world no longer exists.

And everything will just fall apart.

There would be nothing left except for darkness. There would be no other colors but blood red. There would be no one else but yourself. And from that day on this would be your new world.

Every time they call you a monster, you'll become one. Every time they say they hate you, you'll hate them back. Every time they try to kill you, you'll destroy them instead. Because that how your new world works. Because that's how they made it to be. Because it was them who robbed you of your light.

And no matter how deep you fall into the despair, no one will notice.

Because for them nothing has changed.

So when everyone wants you to be the embodiment of darkness, you'll show them just how much of a monster you can be.

Nobody is ever born evil.

This simple truth was said a long ago, by a better man. When the person is born, he has equal chances of becoming world's savior or it's doom. When a new individual comes into this world, his story is still blank. It's what happens next that defines him.

Darkness is never a destiny.

It's a choice.

A very painful one and sometimes inevitable.

Because one day you'll understand, that the darkness will never reject you. It'll stay with you forever. It'll protect your shattered heart like a mother would. When you feel that there's no place for you under the light, you'll gladly accept the dark embrace.

Because it's comforting.

Because it's safe.

Because it's peaceful.

You won't need to worry about anything, once the darkness consumes you. All you need to do, is to take one last breath and accept it. When it'll swallow all the pieces of your broken self, there would be no more pain.

Because when you slowly drown in the darkness, nothing already matters.

Because the more you struggle to break out from its grasp, the faster you'll disappear.

Because the darkness is a pitch black swamp you can never escape from.

Darkness is never a fate.

It's a choice.

And sometimes a choice is already too much to ask.

The light sure is cruel.

Because it will never let you go.

A smallest ray in a pitch black mess is enough, to wake you up. It's more than enough to pull you out. Enough to give you hope.

And from that point on, you won't be able to fall into the dark again. You'll have to pick up the tiniest pieces of yourself and put them back together. No matter how many times you fail, no matter how much your hands will bleed, no matter how hard it is. When the last piece will find its place, the darkness will be gone. Because it can only consume those, who had given up. If you still have the strength left to go on, it'll never have the power over you.

"Uncle Gaara, what's wrong?"

Those curious eyes again. Only this time with a tiny bit of worry. That pure green color always reminded young Kazekage of his older sister. Just few more pages of this book, and the story will be over. And the hero will save them all, that's how it always happens in the books. Because those stories were made for children to believe in miracles.

The reality was different though.

For Gaara the only miracle that existed in this world was this little boy.

So pure in his innocence.

And not broken.

"Nothing." Kazekage said coming back to the reality.

In this world everyone bears scars on their hearts. If you were to look at their souls, you'll see them shattered, crumbled, broken into pieces. The darkness had touched every single one of them, and yet it failed. In this world there were no people who remained unbroken. But very few of them turned themselves into the dark.

Because nobody is ever born evil.

It what happens next that matters.

"I'm just happy." Gaara smiled.

Children were different. Unlike grown-ups, whose past will follow closely behind no matter how many new pages they'll start; children stories were still about to be written.

In this new world there would be no need for monsters.

There would be no more children born into this fate.

Because being a monster is a choice as well.


End file.
